Protesters of many stripes shadow Obama in Oakland

Downtown Oakland became a stage Monday for those who are dissatisfied with President Obama on his latest campaign fundraising trip to the Bay Area. What started as a medical marijuana demonstration outside City Hall became a free-for-all for various interests.

Medical marijuana supporters protesting the closing of Harborside dispensary marched past the several-block-long queue for the Fox Theater, where Obama later would speak to supporters at a campaign fundraising event. The protesters are upset that the Obama has not, in their view, upheld his promise to be hands-off the locally sanctioned pot clubs.

Harborside, a marijuana “superstore” according to U.S. Attorney Melinda Haag in San Francisco, was shut down in April despite Obama’s 2008 campaign vow to not use “Justice Department resources to try to circumvent state laws” that legalized medical marijuana.

Elspeth Farmer, a 54-year-old Obama supporter and member of California’s Democratic Party Central Committee, said she agrees with the protesters who “chose to walk past Obama supporters.”

As afternoon faded, the mood downtown changed as marijuana supporters became sparse, replaced by black-masked Occupy-ers, who did not appear to have a common focus and who supported issues from “No Drones” to “Stop Arctic Drilling” to “Educate don’t Deport.”

Joanne Warwick, a 38-year-old Oakland resident and Occupy-er, summed up Occupy activism as an “umbrella movement for people expressing their outrage.”

Joining Occupy-ers were small business owners upset that streets were closed in a two-block radius around the Fox Theater.

While there were dissenting factions, the protesters were mostly peaceful, and the overall mood in Oakland was one of welcome for the Obama. Signs advertised, “Welcome to Oakland President Obama. 99% Obamaland,” while chants of “four more years” could be heard throughout downtown.